The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has launched a project to encourage manufacturing companies to examine the amount of water they use in the wake of climate change.
The non-profit group, which monitors greenhouse gas emissions, hopes the project will make companies consider their water use more, and identify their exposure to changing patterns of water availability.
For companies that operate globally, climate change could cause water scarcity in some regions as droughts take effect. In other areas, increased precipitation could increase the likelihood of flooding.
The CDP argues that financial investors need to know how changes in water supply might affect businesses. For example, a lack of water could impact adversely on manufacturing processes.
Paul Dickinson, CDP chief executive, said: “If climate change is the shark, then water is its teeth. It is an issue on which businesses need far greater levels of awareness and understanding. CDP Water Disclosure will raise this awareness and drive companies to take action to mitigate risk and seize opportunities.”
The United Nations forecasts that by 2030 almost half of the world’s population will live in areas facing water stress or water scarcity. Marcus Norton, who is responsible for the water disclosure project, said this was inevitable as the global population increased.
He said: “There is a strong link between water scarcity and climate change. Climate change is affecting the supply side, making water availability more uncertain. On the demand side, it is inevitably going to grow as population increases and patterns of consumption change.
“If you are looking at large global players, they tend to have operations and supply chains that are likely to be impacted in some way [by water shortages].”
He added that investors who supported the CDP’s work on CO2 emissions were likely to also support the water disclosure project. He said: “We need to raise awareness and understanding of the issues. With water we’re maybe five years behind where we are with greenhouse gases.”
The water disclosure project is due to start next year and will send a questionnaire to around 300 companies asking them to measure and disclose their water consumption, risk and opportunities. About 2,500 companies now disclose their greenhouse gas emissions to the CDP.
© PE Publishing, 23 November 2009
